I REALLY NEED HELP GUYS!

[JoshO]

How can I increase those levels?

Tropic Marin all for reef is pretty good according to people on here

 

[Aqua Man]

How is Salinity being tested? calibrated?
the Calcium is really low, IMO one of those tests could be wrong.
test new saltwater for before putting in your tank.

 

[Louiemiller9]

how likely could it be that my salinity measurements are wrong or it is not calibrated? I bought it new on amazon. Never thought of that.

 

[Louiemiller9]

Have you made any recent changes? Have you checked for stray voltage in the tank? What about your heaters? Have you checked to make sure they are in good shape? Is there a possibility that metals, such as copper, have gotten into your water? Check the ceiling above the tank to make sure nothing from ducts has fallen into your water. There’s a lot of possibilities, so getting some test measurements will be valuable.

Do I need new lights are the kessil 160s too small for 70 g?

 

[vetteguy53081]

We're going to get you out of this mess.
Lets start here- Having LOW confidence in API test kits, Take a nice sized water sample to a trusted LFS and have them test for you for comparison and to see what results they come up with. Focus on Salinity as I and many have suffered similar consequences from a higher salinity than your gage is showing. Then PH and alk but take that drive and gather a peace of mind.
Plan also on getting more reliable test kits such as Hanna, or red sea. . . even Elos.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

I use this to calculate what changes I need to make to raise the levels. I've been using food grade supplements instead of the "Reef" stuff because it costs a lot more. Just be careful when you increase parameters, too high of a change and you'll crash your tank. I learned the hard way when my Alk shot up 2.0 and my SPS did a complete bail out....

Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[SMSREEF]

how likely could it be that my salinity measurements are wrong or it is not calibrated? I bought it new on amazon. Never thought of that.

It’s very very likely.
This happened to me like many others have said already. I thinks it’s pretty common.
When I took my water to my reef store I found out my salinity was way too high.

 

[Aqua Man]

how likely could it be that my salinity measurements are wrong or it is not calibrated? I bought it new on amazon. Never thought of that.

Anything is possible.

Vetteguy advice about a local store test is good. If you have one that’s open.

salt should have a mix ratio, eg. 1.4 lbs per gallon mixes up to 1.021 this is for reef crystals. If mixed correct, should have Calcium at 370ppm

 

[Aqua Man]

With a known recipe, you can check your refractometer and Calcium. See if it matches up. There is also a recipe for calibration fluid on this site.

I found my refractometer reading too low. Now I check it against my trusty swing arm hydrometer!

 

[jerrod]

Check your refractometer or salinity. I recently ran into the issue having low salinity which hurt corals, if your salinity is low it will affect some parameters i.e. low mag calcium etc. if salinity is good definitely dose some calcium and check your magnesium levels.

 

[Louiemiller9]

It’s very very likely.
This happened to me like many others have said already. I thinks it’s pretty common.
When I took my water to my reef store I found out my salinity was way too high.

So I just checked my fresh RO water and it seems that my refractometer is correct reading at 0.

 

[Louiemiller9]

Check your refractometer or salinity. I recently ran into the issue having low salinity which hurt corals, if your salinity is low it will affect some parameters i.e. low mag calcium etc. if salinity is good definitely dose some calcium and check your magnesium levels.

So I just checked my fresh RO water and it seems that my refractometer is correct reading at 0.

 

[Louiemiller9]

Really appreciate all of the responses by the way!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Folks often focus on possible chemistry issues when corals fail, but there are lots of other reasons: diseases, fish or other organisms bothering them, flow, light, etc.

 

[Louiemiller9]

Folks often focus on possible chemistry issues when corals fail, but there are lots of other reasons: diseases, fish or other organisms bothering them, flow, light, etc.

Is low flow bad for zoas and gsp?

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Always test your refractometers with 35 ppt calibration fluid or make some to use. Using ro water with certain refractometers does not work well and is one reason people get off readings.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

how likely could it be that my salinity measurements are wrong or it is not calibrated? I bought it new on amazon. Never thought of that.

Salinity devices do not come calibrated. Or at least should never be assumed so.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is low flow bad for zoas and gsp?

I think the answer has to be more sophisticated than a simple high or low answer. For example, a bacterial infection might possibly be worse in lower flow even if the organisms normally do fine in low flow.

Looking at your own tank, is every coral in high and low flow and light equally poorly thriving?

 

[Louiemiller9]

I think the answer has to be more sophisticated than a simple high or low answer. For example, a bacterial infection might possibly be worse in lower flow even if the organisms normally do fine in low flow.

Looking at your own tank, is every coral in high and low flow and light equally poorly thriving?

Unfortunately yes.

I have been switching between power heads as one of them is not powerful enough to keep debris suspended while the other power head on its lowest setting is a category 5 hurricane.

 

[SMSREEF]

So I just checked my fresh RO water and it seems that my refractometer is correct reading at 0.

That’s what I was doing to calibrate, using RO water, which is why my salinity was too high when checked at store.

like other’s have said above, using 35 ppt calibration fluid is the only way to go when calibrating.